By David Mann and Leah Solomon

The annual “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” run may be the most known even in Animal Rights Week, but ROAR is making this year memorable with two great music nights.

The first installment took place at last Friday when DJ Richard the Third filled the corridors of the Union with his “newer SA Bass music”, to help bring awareness to the cause. “I think it’s great,” said Richard the Third. “Any event that highlights animal rights in any way, encourages someone to investigate further.”

Michael Glover, a member of the Management Committee of ROAR, explained that Animal Rights Week is “concerned with alerting the student body to the unnecessary violence and brutality suffered by millions of defenceless animals”.

ROAR will be taking the proceeds from the events and putting them towards furthering the awareness of animal rights by “running a successful society, hosting speakers and distributing information regarding the abuse of animals” said Glover.

On Friday the 18^th ROAR will be hosting the second installment of their music nights at The Union. Well known South African band, The Graeme Watkins, Project will be headlining at the music night supported by local band Modern Age, DJs @ Play and upcoming Joburg band CU@7, ensuring that Animal Rights Week 2012 will be brought to a memorable close for all Rhodes students and paving the way for future ROAR events.

By David Mann

The band kicks off their set and the room explodes with the energy of the crowd. Sitting at the bar I watch the band pull off crazy guitar solos and belt out infectious lyrics in front of a sea of people, hungry for live music.

This is one of the ‘Live Music Thursdays’, a weekly event where local acts or touring bands can showcase their talent for the crowd at The Monastery.

On Thursday 3^rd of May there was an all-star line-up featuring Afro- beat/ electronica band Napalma, South African legends The Black Cat Bones and Grahamstown’s very own guitar duo El Toro who played their debut gig at one of the live music nights.

“I think that there’s a lot of local talent going unnoticed and underappreciated these days and events like this help,” said Matthew de Klerk of El Toro.  “Since our first gig, we’ve had a noticeable increase in people who come to see our gigs.”

These live music nights have been happening for about two and a half months now and seem to be picking up very fast. The owner of Monastery, Daniel Long, explained that despite all the local bands popping up around Grahamstown, he wasn’t seeing enough of their talent being put to use.

This sparked the idea to create their own weekly event that allowed the bands to play in front of a crowd and gain experience. “Grahamstown has so much talent just waiting to be showcased and I wanted to provide a platform for that talent,” says Long.

The Thursdays don’t only appeal to upcoming talent though; the well-known bluesy rock band The Black Cat Bones had only good things to say about the gig, “It was a great show! I think that these nights can be very successful and they’re a lot of fun to play at and to watch,” said vocalist of the band, Kobus de Kock.

The nights are also for everyone, varying from laid-back acoustic bands that you can enjoy whilst having a chilled drink to all out, fast paced rock n’ roll that you can’t help but jump around to. “There are many styles of live music, we try to cater for all of them,” said Long.

The Monastery is looking at making the last Thursday of every month a ‘Live Electronic Night’ where DJs will be playing live beats for the crowd. “Seeing electronic music actually being played live is something that people never see, we’re excited to be able to provide that for them,” said Long.

One can expect more local bands to be showcasing their talent in future live music nights as well as well-known blues guitarist, Dan Patlansky who is sure to put on an amazing show. So come and show your support for The Monastery and Grahamstown’s upcoming bands every Thursday at ‘The Monastery’s Live Music Thursdays’. It’s a great way to start off the weekend.

A DA march against Cosatu’s opposition to youth wage subsidies became tense after members of Cosatu stormed the march and threw rocks at DA supporters.

The supporters in blue gathered on Tuesday morning in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, to march against Cosatu’s dismissal of a youth wage subsidy which the DA claims would create over 420 000 jobs for young, unemployed South Africans.

Members of Coastu allegedly stormed the DA’s peaceful march and threw rocks at those wearing the signature blue shirts. At least one DA supporter was badly injured as well as Mail & Guardian journalist Nickolaus Bauer who sustained injuries to the head.

Several journalists on the scene confirmed that some members of the DA crowd retaliated by throwing rocks back at Cosatu members. Police had formed a line in front of the Cosatu camp to prevent physical confrontation, yet resorted to firing teargas at Cosatu supporters in an attempt to halt the violence. Intimidated DA members then removed their blue shirts and retreated.

In a statement released before the march on Monday, ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu requested the DA to abandon its “mind-boggling” decision to march on Cosatu’s renewed headquarters in the city, saying the decision was “opportunistic, ill-informed” and would create unnecessary tension.

DA parliamentary spokesperson Lindiwe Mazibuko says she had written to Cosatu’s general secretary Zwelenzima Vavi on Friday to request a meeting with the trade union on the matter of youth wage subsidies, a request which was  quickly snubbed. Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said, “Cosatu sees no benefit… in discussing these issues with the [DA], with whom we have fundamental ideological differences on many issues”, according to the Mail & Guardian. Craven added that the federation views the youth wage subsidy as a “completely bogus solution” to the unemployment crisis among youth.

Cosatu affiliates, including the National Union of Metalworkers South Africa (NUMSA), called the DA’s march “class provocation” and said it marks the beginning of “open class warfare” that will come to characterise the South African landscape. Mthembu mentioned that Cosatu is a private federation with no legal authority over government policy or policy direction, adding that the DA’s decision to march on a private institution “boggles the mind”.

The DA’s KwaZulu-Natal leader, Sizwe Mchunu, tweeted, “Memories of youth lead liberation struggle in June 1976, brought back by COSATU

By Marc Davies

Auditor General Terence Nombembe has warned South Africans about the increasing vulnerability of his office, saying a sharp decline in government report accuracy, service delivery and security of state information has induced a ‘dire’ situation.

Nombembe criticised government and public servants for weakening the pillars of governance that protect South Africa’s democracy, according to City Press. “Things are serious…because the people that are employed by government to do work are least prepared and equipped to do it,” said Nombembe.
Expressing concern about the growing culture of unaccountability, he said bad audit results have become regarded as a norm and that little is done by authority to show that garnering qualified reports or disclaimers translates to unacceptable governance.

The Auditor-General’s office is one of the ‘Chapter nine institutions’ enshrined in the Constitution as one of the support structures of democracy that conducts ‘checks and balances’ of government administrations on national, provincial and municipal levels. Audit reports on public entities, government departments, public institutions and municipalities are conducted on an annual basis. If the report is tabled as ‘unqualified’, the municipality or government department under evaluation receives the ‘green light’ in financial and transparent performance.

Wake her up with breakfast, present a bouquet of Carnations and a card reading “The Best Mom in the World!” – that is the generic Mother’s Day routine. However, motherhood is a universal concept and isn’t just celebrated in countries where cards and flowers are given.

Celebrating motherhood is not a new concept. In Nepal, there is a festival know as Mata tirtha aunshi (Mother pilgrimage fortnight) which is a Hindu festival celebrating mothers. On that day in April/May, feasts are held in honour of mothers. An early incarnation of Mother’s Day was Mothering Sunday, which was held in Britain and Ireland. On the fourth Sunday of lent, apprentices were sent home to their “mother” churches and it became custom to bring home a sinnel cake for one’s mother.

Mother’s Day, as we know it, was invented by Anna Jarvis, an American woman. Jarvis wanted to celebrate her mother Ann Jarvis, who had founded the Mother’s Day Work Clubs that provided medical attention to soldiers during the American Civil War. Anna Jarvis campaigned for “Mother’s Day” to be a recognised US holiday, which it became in 1914. Now, Mother’s Day is celebrated all over the world as an official or unofficial holiday.

It has risen in popularity particularly in China. The People’s Daily Newspaper reported that “despite originating in the United States, people in China accept the holiday without hesitation because it is in line with the country’s traditional ethics – respect for the elderly and filial piety towards parents.”

The French Mother’s day (journée des Mères) is on the last Sunday of May and initially the holiday was introduced to combat low birth rates in the 1920s. The French government started a holiday called “Journée Nationale des Mères de familles nombreuses” (National day of Mothers of large families) and on this day mothers were awarded medals if they had many children. A law in 1950 stated “Fête des Mères” must now be celebrated by the federal government in honor of French mothers.

The Arab world celebrates its own “Mother’s Day” on the 21^st March. Mustafa Amin, an Egyptian journalist and author, began the idea in 1943 when he heard a story about a widowed mother who had devoted her live to raising her son and when he had grown up he got married and left without showing any gratitude. Amin promoted the holiday and despite the Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser’s initial disapproval, Nasser made “Mother’s Day” an official holiday. The holiday began to spread across other Arab countries. In Egypt there was an attempt to change the day to “Family Day” due to the fact that Mustafa Amin had been arrested and imprisoned. It still remains “Mother’s Day” and the celebrations continue.

“Mother’s Day is a very western concept” said Bulelwa Nosilela, the Head of African Languages at Rhodes, “Mother’s Day is every day for us”. Mothers are called nozala (source of birth) and izikhukazi (the protector, the worker, the giver), names that show how a mother is revered in Xhosa culture. Dr Pamela Maseko, a lecturer for the African Language department says, “We consider every woman to be our mother – that is why, when we greet, we say ‘Molo Mama’.” Both lecturers note that there has been extended commercialization of the concept to the point where it is celebrated as on a single Mother’s Day.

The commercialization of Mother’s Day was also a major concern of the day’s founder Anna Jarvis. During her last years alive, she campaigned to end the commercialization of the holiday she had begun. She commented, “A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother—and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment.”

It is true that there is one day to celebrate mothers, but their contribution to one’s childhood should not be forgotten. A Xhosa idiom says ‘izimazi ezimabele abhougxile’ – that a mother gives everything she has, even when she has nothing.

By Olona Tywabi

Last Friday saw the botanical gardens light up with performances of all kinds including, poetry and dance. The Rhodes University Department of Sociology, students and members of the Grahamstown community hosted the ‘People’s Concert’.

Claudia Martinez Mullen, an organiser and Sociology lecturer, says that the festival’s “aim was to bridge the gap between students and the community”.

Rhodes student Bruce Haynes shared a poetry piece called ‘The struggle did not end in 1994’.

An upcoming group called The Creators, comprising of four men, some of whom were previously in prison, kept the crowd dancing throughout with their unique mix of jazz and kwaito. One of the group’s members, Zola, was very enthusiastic about this community engagement project. “I was released a month ago from prison and it feels amazing to give back to the community by just showcasing our talents,” he says.

The highlight of the event for many was the play on adoption performed by learners from the N.V. Cewu school. The young actors attracted many laughs from their comic performance.

By Megan Ellis

Former FHM model Jessica Leandra is facing the consequences of her Twitter rant which has sparked a national uproar and debate.

According to iAfrica, Leandra tweeted on Thursday that she “took on a arrogant and disrespectful k****r inside Spar. Should have punched him.”

Leandra reportedly apologised and said that her anger was in response to an incident of sexual harassment from the man mentioned.

She deleted the offending tweet, later posting: “Tweeted with anger after an incident last night. Forget it pls, I dnt stand still against sexual harassment, thats all.”

Despite her apologies, FHM has stripped the model of her title as winner of the FHM Modelbook 2011 competition. In a statement, FHM confirmed that they would not have any future dealings with Leandra and have since removed all her pictures from the magazine’s website.

However FHM is not the only company distancing itself from the model. QuickTrim SA has decided to drop their sponsorship of Leandre, effective immediately.

Twitter and news forums continue to be flood with arguments both for and against the model, with some Twitter users asking for a complaint with the Human Rights Commission to be lodged.

Alyx Carolus, a second year Rhodes student, says that she is disgusted by Leandra’s use of the racial slur. “I object to resorting to racial slurs as way of defending yourself,” she says. “As a coloured female and South African human being, this slur holds a lot of history within our country and Leandra used it with that intention.”

Carolus adds, “Her race or background, is not of my concern, because it should not be ‘normal’ or ‘okay’ across the board – anybody who is politically and socially aware in this country, should be offended.”

Leandra’s tweet has lead to her name and #DownWithRacism trending nationally.

 By David Mann

Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company put on their new play, The Dogs Must Be Crazy, in Grahamstown recently and the shows were met with great enthusiasm by all that attended.

The piece, which has been in the works for about five to six weeks was a look at contemporary, socio-political life through the eyes of dogs, playing on their interactions and how they pine for love despite mistreatment and abuse by society.

“We shine a satirical light on these aspects of human life in this crazy, beautiful, mixed-up country of ours,” says director of the play, Rob Murray.

The play was based on Mike van Graan’s original concept which was set in 1991 and which dealt with issues such as the struggle towards democracy and the transition to the new South Africa. Ubom! has modernised the play so that it addresses current issues such as poverty, alcoholism and drug addiction, as well as BEE, RDP housing and domestic violence.

The Ubom! team “looked for narrative arcs that could contain the socio-political references, without them just being placed there. Non-verbal theatre has come a long way since those days, and our version acknowledges that” said Murray.

The shows took place on 25 and 26 April (Wednesday and Thursday), and the Ubom! team could be seen running around campus and barking at students to promote the play. The result was that the shows had great attendances with Thursday night’s show being sold out.

The shows captured the audience with the unique and lovable personalities of each character, and by highlighting all the positive and negative issues that we face as South Africans.

Murray said that the audience will come to care about the characters and identify with “situations, pressures, and absurdities that they go through. So, having experienced the dogs’ stories, they will hopefully think about their own lives some more”.

The show also celebrates Ubom!’s 10th year in business and they will be performing it at HIFA (Harare International Festival of the Arts) in May.

Murray is particularly excited for HIFA and said that “it’s a really great festival to be at.  And it will be a world-changing experience for the performers”.

The Dogs Must Be Crazy was a huge success here in Grahamstown and is certain to be a hit in Harare, so let’s wish Ubom! the best of luck for HIFA and hope that their audiences will be as enthusiastic as we were.

By Brad de Klerk and Megan Ellis

The Pirate Bay, the world’s largest torrent website, recently announced plans to launch ‘Low Orbit Server Stations’ in an attempt to avoid shutdown and censorship. After numerous takedown attempts by authorities, the site’s owners hope this will be the answer to their run-ins with the law.

This proposal comes in light of the recent push for copyright laws and Internet censorship legislation from the US and the EU. Other sites have been shut down, including the file-hosting site Megaupload, whose founder was arrested in January.
“With the development of GPS-controlled drones, far-reaching cheap radio equipment and tiny new computers like the Raspberry Pi, we’re going to experiment with sending out some small drones that will float some kilometres up in the air,” The Pirate Bay said in a recent blog post. They added that they are always trying to optimise the positions of their front-end machines which redirect users’ traffic requests to a secret location.
The site is also looking to implement modern radio transmitters which can transfer at speeds of 100Mbps per node up to 50km away, but these are yet to be confirmed. These Low Orbit Server Stations will act as a proxy system – one which establishes connections between computers – that will redirect traffic. This will replace their front end machines, which are more vulnerable to being shut down.
However the launch of these server stations could be problematic: there are issues concerning the required height as well as low-flying aircraft occupying the same airspace. Others do not even believe the site’s owners are serious about the endeavour.
According to The Hacker News, The Pirate Bay claims to have bought Greek airspace for the launch of their drones. Flying in international airspace will make it harder for governments to shut down the servers. “Political power in Athens, Greece today signed an agreement with representatives for The Pirate Bay about exclusive usage of the Greek airspace at 8000-9000ft,” said the site’s owners.
While The Pirate Bay and many downloading hopefuls are positive about the plan, it has yet to be seen whether it will be a sustainable solution